Chrome vs Internet Explorer

There was a time when Microsoft enjoyed an industry pretty much all to itself. We all used PCs, Apple was thought of as a bit weird, and Internet Explorer (IE) was our main browser.

You can’t blame the US tech giant for this; Microsoft was ahead of the game in so many ways. Bill Gates had a vision of a PC in every office and every home – a vision that was realised some years ago.

Personally, I am still PC user, but that’s just about the only Microsoft product I use these days. I go for a PS3 over an Xbox, Android over Windows Phone, and an iPod over whatever god-awful MP3 player Microsoft brought out a few years ago.

But until a couple of years ago there was another Microsoft product that I used every day, as did everyone else in the world: Internet Explorer.

That was until Google came along with Chrome – an excellent browser that oozes simplicity and has proved hugely popular in its relatively short lifetime.

Last year, the browser leapfrogged the massively overrated, and very ugly, Firefox to become the world’s second most popular browser.

That was last December, and the browser’s popularity shows no sign of slowing down. Microsoft must be getting worried, especially since it was revealed recently that Chrome momentarily overtook IE.

Figures released by StatCounter have shown that, on a recent Sunday, Chrome was the world’s most popular browser.

It took a 32.7% share of the market, while IE took a 32.5% share. OK, I know it wasn’t the most groundbreaking annihilation of IE by Chrome, but it’s significant nonetheless.

It occurred at the weekend, showing that when people aren’t forced to use IE by unimaginative employers, they opt for Chrome instead.

By Monday morning, IE was back in the top spot. But it surely won’t be long until Google’s huge popularity pushes it to the top for good. And I for one wish it all the best.